Annapolis, Naval Academy should discuss costs of commissioning week

Annapolis and the academy are inseparable, of course. It was the academy that kept Annapolis from slipping into oblivion after Baltimore succeeded it as the most important city in Maryland. It was the academy that provided generations of good jobs to residents of Annapolis, and it has been the academy that has attracted thousands of military retirees who form the backbone of the wider Annapolis community. Now Annapolis needs the academy more than ever. (Capital)

Miya Hunter-Willis: County budget must provide for students' need for psychological services

Last month, I had the pleasure of meeting Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh. He met with the Capital Gazette Editorial Board along with reporters to preview his fiscal 2019 budget proposal. I approached the meeting as an opportunity to better understand the fiscal priorities of our county government. I admit that County Executive Schuh’s summary of his proposal and the embargoed information he provided tickled my ears. I was thrilled the moment he announced education was his first priority. (Capital)

William Zerhouni: Baltimore gets in your bones

I didn’t know Ray Glasgow, but he was everything we want our children to be: a hard-working student, a two-sport star, a devoted son. He was the hope for a new Baltimore — young, visionary and hopeful. I sit on the board of a non-profit that runs a summer learning program that Ray participated in years ago. Everyone in the program who knew him echoed the words of his City College football coach, “He was the epitome of a good kid.” (Balt. Sun)

Baltimore’s vetting process needs vetting

May 14 // Laslo Boyd: Sights and Sounds from a Funeral

“We shouldn’t be here.” “This shouldn’t be happening.” That message was voiced by all the speakers at the funeral last Friday for Kevin Kamenetz. It had to be the thought going through the mind of everyone at the service as well. Kamenetz, the Baltimore County Executive and candidate for the Democratic nomination for Governor, died suddenly at age 60 the day before. I’m sure that all the people who received the early morning news of his passing couldn’t quite comprehend it. There must be a mistake. That can’t possibly be. (fromacertainpointofview)

Barry Rascovar: Kevin Kamenetz -- What Might Have Been

If Kevin Kamenetz had received the same outpouring of respect, admiration and gratitude in life as he did in death, his political future might have been limitless. Kamentz died too young, at 60, last Thursday from a massive coronary blockage. The Baltimore County Executive exhausted himself trying to run the county while also running for governor. His political colleagues heaped immense praise on Kevin, as most people called him, for being on top of issues, for dedicating his life to public service and for making Baltimore County government function better. Had he received that level of recognition for his accomplishments during his run for governor, Kamenetz might have been far ahead in the Democratic primary. (politicalmaryland)

Another blow to the Pugh administration

Baltimore Police Commissioner Darryl De Sousa’s admission that he failed to file his federal or state taxes for three years raises a multitude of questions that his explanation — failing to properly prioritize his personal affairs — doesn’t come close to answering. Before we can assess his fitness to serve as the city’s top cop, we need to know a lot more about how this problem got to the point at which federal prosecutors brought criminal charges against him, leading the mayor to suspend him Friday with pay pending a resolution of the case, and about why he has not been able to resolve the issue already. (Balt. Sun)

Dan Rodricks: Kevin Kamenetz, the pragmatic progressive

In the spring of 2015, a few weeks after the Freddie Gray fires and looting that sent the Maryland National Guard to West Baltimore, I took the No. 8 bus to Towson for a talk with Kevin Kamenetz about the city’s troubles. I was surprised and encouraged by what I heard. I had considered Kamenetz to be a classic, middle-of-the-cul-de-sac suburban Democrat, more cautious about policy than he had to be. Shortly after he became Baltimore County executive in 2011, he had scoffed at the idea of the more affluent county supporting its namesake city in any way. (Balt. Sun)